THE ISLANDS OF HAWAII-ARE THEY TO BE A BUTTRESS 
OR A MENACE TO OUR WESTERN COAST? 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. JAMES A. TAWNEY, 



IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



Tuesday, March 15, 1893. 



W-A. S H I N G X O 
1898. 




SPEECH 



^ ?HON. JAMES A. TAWNEY. 



The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union and 
having under consideration the bill (H. R. 9CHJ8) making appropriations for the 
service of the Post- Office Department- 
Mr. TAWNEY said: 

Mr. Chairmn: The responsibility for precipitating upon this 
House a discussion of the question of the annexation of the Islands 
of Hawaii does not rest upon those who favor that proj^osition. 
When a member of this House assails the policy of his party or 
the long-established nonpartisan policy of the Government, he 
should be able to justify his position by facts or logic and not 
rely upon the rhythmic eloquence of his'tongue. [Applause. 1 

It was with unusual interest, therefore, that I listened a few 
days ago to the vigorous assault of the gentleman from Indiana 
[Mr. Johnson] upon the policy of his President, his party, and 
his country respecting that group of beautiful islands, securely 
anchored in the bosom of the Pacific, now asking that over them 
we extend the sovereignty and the flag of the United States. In 
common with my colleagues of the House I expected to hear some 
cogent reason, some potential argument, in support of his opposi- 
tion to annexation, but I listened in vain. 

Under the authority of the Constitution, and following the lead- 
ership of Webster, Legare, Clayton, Grant, Seward, BJaine. and 
Harrison, and in obedience to the platform of his party, President 
McKinley has accepted these islands, freely tendered to us by 
competent authority. The gentleman from Indiana contents him- 
self with a vigorous denunciation of this policy. He proposes 
nothing in its stead. He even denies that Hawaii would be of 
any value to the United States, either commercially or as a stra- 
tegical point of military advantage. 

The logic of his position is the absolute abandonment of the 
islands or it is nothing. In this respect the speech of the gentle- 
man does not meet the question presented to the i^eople by this 
treaty of annexation. He told us it would be unwise, and even sug- 
gested that it would endanger our national unity to annex Hawaii, 
but he failed to tell us what the effect of his policy of abandonment 
would be. Nor did he inform us how we could, with honorable 
consistency, enforce the policy of not allowing any other power 
to control or interfere with them if we do not consider them of 
sufficient importance to accept them ourselves. These are ques- 
tions of the highest importance and worthy of the most careful 
consideration, but the opponents of annexation entirely ignore 
them. 

AMERICAN INTERESTS PROMPTED THE POLICY OF NONTNTERFERENCE. 

Ever since Hawaii was of sufficient importance to be a factor in 
international politics, all American statesmen and all political 
parties have regarded its commercial and military advantages 
of such peculiar value to the United States that they deemed it 

2 3136 



necessary to adopt and enforce the policy of not allowing any for- 
eign power to interfere with, control, or colonize it. 

As far back as December 31, 1842, President Tyler, in a special 
message to the Senate relating to these islands, said: 

It can not but be in conformity with the interest and wishes of the Gov- 
ernment and the people of the United States that this community * * * 
should be respected, and all its rights strictly and conscientiously re- 
garded. * * * Far remote from the dominions of European powers, its 
growth and prosperity as an independent state may yet be in high degree 
nsefulto all whose trade is extended to those regions, while its near approach 
to this continent, and the intercourse which American vessels have with it- 
such vessels constituting five-sixths of all which annually visit it— could not 
but create dissatisfaction on the part of the United States at any attempt by 
another power, should such attempt be threatened or feared, to take posses- 
sion of the islands, colonize them, and subvert the native Government. 

December 19, 1842, when Hawaii applied to the United States 
for recognition, Secretary of State Webster said that the matter 
had been submitted to the President (Tyler) and— 

The President is of opinion that the interests of all the commercial nations 
require that that Government [Hawaii] shall not be interfered with by for- 
eign powers. * * * The United States * * * are more interested in the 
fate of the islands and of their Government than any other nation can be, and 
this consideration induces the President to be quite willing to declare, as the 
sense of the Government of the United States, that the Government of the 
Sandwich Islands ought to be respected; that no power ought either to take 
possession of the islands as a conquest or for the purpose of colonization, and 
that no power ought to seek for any undue control over the existing Gov- 
ernment, or any exchisive privileges or preferences in matters of commerce. 

H. S. LEGARE ADVOCATED FORCE TO KEEP EUROPEAN POWERS OUT. 

June 13, 1843, Secretary of State Legare sent a dispatch to 
Edward Everett, United States minister at London, in which the 
relations of the United States to Hawaii are mentioned, by reason 
of the then recent seizure of the islands by England. In this con- 
nection he says: 

It is well known that * * * we have no wish to plant or to acquire col- 
onies abroad. Yet there is something so entirely peculiar in the relations 
between this little commonwealth Hawaii and ourselves that we might even 
feel justified, consistently with our own principles, in interfering by force to 
prevent its falling into the hands of one of the great powers of Europe. 
These relations spring out of the local situation, the history and the charac- 
ter and institutions of the Hawaiian Islands, as well as out of the declarations 
formally made by this Government during the course of the last session of 
Congress, to which I beg leave to call your particular attention. 

If the attempt now making by ourselves, as well as other Christian powers, 
to open the markets of China to a more general commerce be successful, 
there can be no doubt b^^t that a great part of the commerce wiU find its way 
over the Isthmus. In that event it will be impossible to overrate the impor- 
tance of the Hawaiian group as a stage in the long voyage between Asia and 
America. But without anticipating events which, however, seem inevitable 
and even approaching, the actual demands of an immense navigation make 
the free use of these roadsteads and ports indispensable to us. * * * it 
seems doubtful whether even the undisputed possession of the Oregon Ter- 
ritory and the use of the Columbia Eiver, or. indeed, anything short of the 
acquisition of California, if that were possible, would be sufficient indemnity 
to us for the loss of these harbors. — Report of Senate Committee on Foreign 
Belations conctrning Hawaiian Islands, volume 3, page 921. 

Upon receipt of a communication from Mr. Severance, Ameri- 
can minister at Honolulu, informing him of the persistent at- 
tempts on the part of the French Government to take these 
islands. Secretary of State Webster, on June 18, 1851, again ad- 
dressed United States Minister Rives at Paris, instructing him to 
immediately inform the French Government that the further 
enforcement of the French demand against Hawaii — 

Would be tantamount to a subjugation of the islands to the dominion of 
France. A step like this could not fail to be viewed by the Government and 
people of the United States with a dissatisfaction which would tend seriously 
to disturb our existing friendly relations with the French Government. 
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4 



REPARATION REQUESTED FOR HAWAII. INDICATING CLAIM OP UNITED 
STATES OF RIGHT TO PROTECT HAWAII. 

And he is further instructed to make such representations to 
France — 

As will induce that GoverBment to desist from measures incompatible with 
the sovereignty and independence of the Hawaiian Islands, and to make 
amends for the acts which the French agents have already committed there 
in contravention of the law of nations and of the treaty between the Ha- 
waiian Government and France. 

UNITED STATES CAN NEVER CONSENT TO OCCUPATION BY, OR HOSTILE 
DEMANDS OF, EUROPEAN POWERS. 

[John M. Clayton.] 

In a dispatch from Secretary Clayton to United States Minister 
Rives at Paris, July 5, 1850, referring to the differences between 
the French and Hawaiian governments, he made the following 
statement: 

The Department will be slow to believe that the French have any inten- 
tion to adopt, with reference to the Sandwich Islands, the same policy which 
they have pursued in regard to Tahiti. If, however, in your judgment, it 
should be warranted by circumstances, you may take a proper opportunity 
to intimate to the minister for foreign affairs of France that the situation of 
the Sandwich Islands in respect to our possessions on the Pacific and the 
bonds, commercial and of other descriptions, between them and the United 
States are such that we can never with indifference allow them to pass un- 
der the dominion or exclusive control of any other power. 

Secretary of State Webster, replying to United States Minister 
Severance, at Honolulu, on July 14, 1851, says, after reciting that 
the demands of France were improper and ' ' could only end in 
rendering the islands and their government a prey to the stronger 
commercial nations of the world: " 

It can not be expected that the Government of the United States could 
look on a course of things leading to such a result with indifference. 

The Hawaiian Islands are ten times nearer to the United States than to 
any of the powers of Europe. Five-sixths of all their commercial intercourse 
is with the United States, and these considerations, together with others 
of a more general character, have fixed the course which the Government of 
the United States will pursue in regard to them. The annunciation of this 
policy will not surprise the governments of Europe, nor be thought to be 
unreasonable by the nations of the civilized Avorld, and that policy is that 
while the Government of the United States, itself faithful to its original 
assurance, scrupulously regards the independence of the Hawaiian Islands, 
it can never consent to see those islands taken possession of by either of the 
great commercial powers of Europe, nor can it consent that demands mani* 
festly unjust and derogatory and inconsistent with a bona fide independence 
shall be enforced against that Government. — Report Senate Committee on 
Foreign Relations concerning Hawaiian Islands, volume 2, page 908. 

HAWAII THE KEY OF THE AMERICAN PACIFIC, 

[James G. Blaine.] 

In 1881, the British Government having made certain demands 
upon the Hawaiian Government arising out of the reciprocity 
treaty with the United States negotiated in 1876, Mr. Blaine, in a 
dispatch dated December 1, 1881, to United States Minister Comly 
at Honolulu, used the following language: 

This Government firmly believes that the position of the Hawaiian Islands 
as the key to the dominion of the American Pacific demands their benevolent 
neutrality, to which end it will earnestly cooperate with the native Govern- 
ment. And if, through any cause, the maintenance of such a position of be- 
nevolent neutrality should be found by Hawaii to be impracticable, this 
Government would then unhesitatingly meet the altered situation by seek- 
ing an avowedly American solution for the grave issues presented.— Report 
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations concerning Hawaiian Islands, volume 
3, page 831. 
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5 



In a further dispatch he said: 

The Govermnent of the United States * * * has always avowed, and 
now repeats, that under no circumstances will it permit the transfer of the 
territory or sovereignty of these islands to any of the great European 
powers. It is needless to restate the reasons upon which that determination 
rests. It is too obvious for argument that the possession of these islands by 
a great maritime power would not only be a dangerous diminution of the 
just and necessary influence of the United States in the waters of the Pacific, 
but in the case of international difficulty it would be a positive threat to 
interests too large and important to be lightly risked. 

Since 1842 nine Presidents have declared and enforced this policy 
of noninterference. Recognizing the value of their advantages 
to us and the necessity for continuing this policy, it was declared 
in substance by both Houses of Congress, within the past four 
years, that any interference in the affairs of the Hawaiian Islands 
by any foreign power would be considered as an unfriendly act 
toward this Grovernment. 

Notwithstanding the ability of those who inaugurated this pol- 
icy; notwithstanding its persistent enforcement by all political 
parties, and by the foremost statesmen in the last half of the nine- 
teenth century, and notwithstanding all these men saw that the 
fruit of their policy would be the ultimate annexation of the islands, 
the gentleman from Indiana tells us the proposition of annexation 
is a " mere bauble. " 

He would not only reject annexation, but the logic of his posi- 
tion forces him to favor the abandonment of that policy which 
Webster, Clayton, Seward, and Blaine all, in effect, said was 
necessary to avoid a dangerous diminution of the just and essen- 
tial influence of the United States in the waters of the North 
Pacific Ocean, and, in case of international difficulty, to protect in- 
terests on that coast too large and important to be lightly risked. 

The reason for the X)olicy of noninterference is so fully and 
fon-cibly stated in a confidential dispatch to United States Minister 
Comly, at Honolulu, December 1, 1881, written by Mr. Blaine, 
that I feel justified in reading a portion of the same for the in- 
formation of the committee: 

HAWAII'S RELATIONS TO THE UNITED STATES— EARLY EXTINCTION OF 
NATIVES— TRANSFER OF POWER TO OTHERS. 

In my formal instruction of this date I have reviewed the general question 
of relationship between the United States and the Hawaiian Islands, and 
the position of the latter, both as an integral part of the American system 
and as the key to the commerce of the North Pacific. 

As that instruction was written for communication to the Hawaiian secre- 
tary of state, I touched but lightly on the essential question of the gradual 
and seemingly inevitable decadence and extinction of the native race and its 
replacement by another, to which the powers of government would neces- 
sarily descend. 

A single glance at the census returns of Hawaii for half a generation past 
exhibits this alarming diminution of the indigenous element, amounting to 
li per cent per annum of the population. Meanwhile the industrial and pro- 
ductive development of Hawaii is on the increase, and the native classes, never 
sufficiently numerous to devolp the full i-esources of the islands, have been 
supplemented by an adventitious labor element from China mainly, until the 
rice and sugar fields are largely tilled by aliens. The worst of this state of 
things is that it must inevitably keep on in increasing ratio, the native classes 
growing smaller, the insular production larger, and the immigration to sup- 
ply the want of labor greater every year. 

HAWAII COMMERCIALLY A DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA. 

I have shown in a previous instruction how entirely Hawaii is a part of the 
productive and commei'cial system of the American States. So far as the 
staple growths and imports of the islands go. the reciprocity treaty makes 
them practically members of an American zolverein, an outlying district of 
the State of California. So far as political structure and independence of 
action are concerned, Hawaii is as remote from our control as China. 
313G 



6 



PERPETUITY OF NATIVES BASIS OF INDEPENDENCE. 

This contradiction is only explicable by assuming what is the fact, that 
thirty years ago, having the choice between material annexation and com- 
mercial assimilation of the islands, the United States chose the less respon- 
sible alternative. The soundness of the choice, however, entirely depends 
upon the perpetuity of the rule of the native race as an independent govern- 
ment, and that imperiled, the whole framework of our relations to Hawaii is 
changed, if not destroyed. 

The decline of the native Hawaiian element in the presence of newer and 
steadier growths must be accepted as an inevitable fact, in view of the teach- 
ings of ethnological history. And as retrogression in the development of the 
islands can not be admitted without serious detriment to American interests 
in the North Pacific, the problem of a replenishment of the vital forces of 
Hawaii presents itself for intelligent solution in an American sense, not in 
an Asiatic or British sense. 

ANNEXATION WOULD CAUSE AMERICAN COLONIZATION. 

There is little doubt that were the Hawaiian Islands, by annexation or dis- 
trict protection, a part of the territory of the Union, their fertile resources 
for the growth of rice and sugar would not only be controlled by American 
capital, but so profitable a field of labor would attract intelligent workers 
thither from the United States. 

Throughout the continent, north and south, wherever a foothold is found 
for American enterprise, it is quickly occupied, and this spirit of adventure, 
which seeks its outlet in the mines of South America and the railroads of 
Mexico, would not be slow to avail itself of openings for assured and profit- 
able enterprise even in mid ocean. — Report Senate Committee on Foreign Re- 
lations concerning Hawaiian Islands, volume 2, page 977. 

It is significant that all the conditions here recited by Mr. 
Blaine, which in his judgment would justify and make annexa- 
tion necessary, have now come to pass. The gentleman from In- 
diana may say Mr. Blaine was a jingo, and therefore a dangerous 
leader in foreign affairs. Whatever he may have been in this re- 
spect, his wisdom as a statesman, his Americanism, and his un- 
selfish devotion to the interests of the people no man dare ques- 
tion. 

I firmly believe, Mr. Chairman, we would show infinitely more 
wisdom in following on this question the judgment of James G. 
Blaine than we would in following at this time the jingoism of 
the gentleman from Indiana in matters of currency reform. 
Jingoism is not confined exclusively to our foreign policy. 

SHALL WE ANNEX OR ABANDON HAWAII? 

Until recently this policy of noninterference with the Islands 
of Hawaii has been courteously acquiesced in by all foreign na- 
tions. During this time, it is true, the independent Government 
of Hawaii has been interfered with, and it was even attempted to 
take the islands by force, once by Great Britain, twice by France, 
and once by Russia. But on each occasion the prompt enforce- 
ment of our policy prevented them from falling permanently into 
the hands of either of these great powers. 

Now, however, a different proposition confronts us. The ques- 
tion is not should we or may we continue our policy of noninter- 
ference, with the islands under the control of an independent gov- 
ernment, or annex them? The question is: Shall we annex or 
abandon them? If we refuse to annex them, by what right could 
we enforce any policy whatever respecting them, as against the 
right of Hawaii to go wheresoever it pleases? By rejecting them 
we are estopped from ever thereafter exercising any control over 
them as against the will of their government or the action of any 
foreign power. We can not let them go and hold them at the 
same time. [Applause.] 

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7 



OVERTHROW OF EXISTING GOVERNMENT OR ANNEXATION BY SOME FOREIGN 
POWER INEVITABLE. 

Three-fourths of the property is owned by those who practically 
control the Republic. Their numerical weakness and the pecul- 
iar political conditions and factional differences growing out of 
the desire on the part of the aliens to see their native country 
in control or possessing advantages inimical to the interests 
of the United States is a constant menace to the stability and 
perpetuity of the Government, and therefore dangerous to the 
property interests of those who control the Republic. Another 
serious and constantly threatening danger is Oriental colonization, 
whereby control will ultimately be obtained without any overt 
act on the part of the government obtaining it. 

The authority of the existing Government to tender the islands 
to any foreigTi power is conceded. If we reject them, that rejec- 
tion of necessity carries with it an acknowledgment of the right 
on the part of the Republic of Hawaii to determine its own 
political destiny, uninfluenced by considerations affecting the 
United States. In that event, knowing the dangers, both internal 
and external, which threaten property interests and the stability 
of the Government, they will seek elsewhere, as a matter of self- 
preservation, annexation with a people whose representatives are 
influenced by broad national interests rather than by corporate 
greed. 

In that event, tell me, pray, on what ground can the United 
States consistently interfere? On none whatever. I repeat, there- 
fore, the question is not, Shall we continue the present status or 
annex these islands; it is. Shall we annex them or abandon them? 

POPULATION HETEROGENEOUS. 

It is true, as the gentleman from Indiana says, the population is 
heterogeneous in character; but so is the population of his and 
almost every other State in the Union. It is not true, however, 
that the native Hawaiians are an illiterate race. 

The percentage of illiteracy, according to the Hawaiian census 
of 1896, is only a very little more among the natives of these islands 
than it is in the State of Indiana. I was surprised when there a 
short time ago to learn that it was almost impossible to find an 
adult native who could not read and wi-ite, and more than one- 
third of them read and write the English language. 

In 1843 the school work of the islands was considered of suffi- 
cient importance to be organized as a separate department of the 
Government, and was then placed in charge of a cabinet minister. 
As a result of the educational policy of the Government, the 
English language has been taught for many years in all the public 
and select schools, and to-day education there is universal, com- 
pulsory, and free. 

The population of the islands is made up of Hawaiian, Amer- 
ican, British, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and other 
nationalities. The total number of the population in 1896, the 
date of the last census, was 109.020. Of these 31,019 were full- 
blooded Hawaiians, 23,038 were Americans and Europeans, 24,407 
were Japanese, 21,616 Chinese, and 455 were South Sea Islanders. 
The remainder, 8,485, were part Hawaiians. 

SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR THE HAWAIIAN A THING OF THE PAST. 

As the result of causes which I have not the time to discuss, the 
native population has diminished to less than one-third of the 
total inhabitants. The question is no longer, Shall the Hawaiians 



8 



be self-governed? Self-government is, for these people, a thing of 
the past. It is inevitable that in the near future some foreign 
power will dominate their Government. 

The question which confronts them and us is, Which foreign 
power shall it be? The gentleman from Indiana would answer, 
any foreign power but the United States. With this exception, 
the solution of this question is a matter of supreme indifference 
to him, and to all those who are opposed to annexation. This is 
un-American, unpatriotic, because it involves the complete aban- 
donment of our commercial and military interests in these islands, 
the preservation of which the greatest American statesmen, sol- 
diers, and naval authorities have deemed and now believe to be 
absolutely essential to the development of our commerce on the 
Pacific in times of peace, and in times of international difficulties 
to the protection of those great American interests in that rapidly 
growing section of our country on the western slope of the Rocky 
Mountains. 

For myself, and I believe I but voice the sentiment of the great 
majority of the people when I say, I would meet this question as 
James G. Blaine, in 1881, proposed to meet it. It was then feared 
that the neuti'ality of the islands was no longer practicable, and 
Mr. Blaine said: 

This Government would then unhesitatingly meet the altered situation by 
seeking an avowedly American solution for the grave issues presented. 

Meaning annexation. 

ONLY UN'RECONSTBUCTED ROYALISTS OPPOSED TO ANNEXATION. 

The gentleman tells us that he is opposed to annexation because 
he " believes the people of Hawaii are opposed to it."' He is also 
opposed to it because it would be a radical departure from the 
alleged traditional policy of our Government and establish a 
dangerous precedent for the future acquisition of insular territory, 
and also because it might involve our Government in interna- 
tional difficulties. 

On a petition purporting to be signed by fifteen or twenty thou- 
sand people out of a total population of 109,000, he tells us the peo- 
ple are against annexation. 

The pending treaty was first negotiated by the Executives of 
the two Governments. Since then it has been duly ratified by the 
Senate of Hawaii, a body elected by the people, not by the states. 
I risk nothing when I say that if our Senate, like that of Hawaii, 
was elected by the people the treaty would long since have been 
ratified and the Islands of Hawaii would now be a part of the 
United States. 

Mr. CLARK of Missouri. Will the gentleman vield for a ques- 
tion? 

Mr. TAWNEY. My time is very limited. 

Mr. CLARK of Missouri. Will the gentleman please state to 
the House how many people of Hawaii are allowed to vote to elect 
that senate out there? 

Mr. HOPKINS. More than some in the Southern States. 
[Laughter on the Republican side.] 

Mr. CLARK of Missouri. I live in Missouri, and in that State 
every man votes and gets his vote counted. 

Mr. TAWNEY. I think I will answer the gentleman in just a 
moment in my remarks. 

When in the history of our Republic have we refused to annex 
territory because we believed a part of the people in that territory 
3136 



9 



were opposed to it? When have we ever demanded, as a condi- 
tion precedent to annexation, a popular vote in onr own or in the 
country it was proposed to annex? Neither the Constitution nor 
the laws of this country or of Hawaii require it. On the con- 
trary, the constitutions of both countries, that of the United States 
in general terms and that of Hawaii in express terms, authorize 
the Presidents and Senates of both countries to conclude a treaty 
of annexation. 

During the past fifty years there have been four annexation 
treaties negotiated by Hawaii with the United Slates — one in 
1851; another in 1854, which would have been ratified and con- 
firmed by both countries but for the sudden death of Kameha- 
meha HI; another in 1893, and the fourth in 1897. Two of these 
were negotiated by the monarchy, one by the Provisional Gov- 
ernment, and one by the Republic of Hawaii; and in neither case 
was there any provision for a popular vote, either in the United 
States or in Hawaii. 

This ground of the gentleman's opposition is not, therefore, 
based on any legal right possessed by those in Hawaii who oppose 
annexation. It can only be founded on a sentimental regard for 
the native Hawaiian. If the philanthropists would descend from 
theirethereal abode long enough to ascertain the facts, they would 
find that, almost without exception, all the ministers of the gos- 
pel, most of the better educated natives, all the boards of foreign 
and domestic missions, the practical educators, and those who 
have contributed years of their time, energy, and means to the 
Hawaiian people, who feel that their future welfare is a trust too 
sacred to be sacrificed upon the altar of Mongolian supremacy — 
all these are earnestly working and praying for the success of the 
treaty of annexation as their only hope for the native Hawaiian. 

RESTORATION OF THE MONARCHY THE HOPE OF THE NATIVES WHO OPPOSE 
ANNEXATION. 

From personal conversation with some of the most intelligent 
natives. I am confident if you could overcome the fear, entertained 
by some of the leading Hawaiians, of the loss of social position as 
a result of annexation, you would then have removed one of the 
principal causes of their opposition. It is a significant fact that 
most of the natives who oppose annexation are those who have, 
thus far, refused to renounce allegiance to the monarchy and be- 
come citizens of the existing Republic. 

They not only oppose annexation, but they desire, and many of 
them have recently been found secretly plotting for, the over- 
throw of the Republic and the reestablishment of the monarch3\ 
They hope to see the monarchy restored if annexation fails, and 
they fear the loss of social position if it succeeds. This has en- 
abled a few of the leading native Hawaiians, men and women, in 
the public meetings which have been held all over the islands, to 
appeal to the patriotism and prejudices of their countrymen and 
thereby secure their formal protest against annexation. Analyze 
ihe petition of which the gentleman speaks, and you will find that 
not only names of children not over 2 years of age are upon it, 
but that more than four-fifths of those who have signed it are un- 
reconstructed royalists. 

Mr. CLARK of Missouri. Will the gentleman allow me to ask 
him one other question? Is it not true that the list of voters in 
Hawaii, which was 16,000 under the monarchy, has been cut 
down to 2.000 under the oligarchy, and that a property qualifica- 
tion attaches to it? 
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10 



Mr. TAWNEY. It has not been cut clown at all. Every one 
of them who will come in and renounce allegiance to the mon- 
archy and take the oath of allegiance to the existing Government 
becomes a citizen under the constitution and is entitled to vote. 

Mr. CLARK of Missouri. You did not answer the last half of 
the question. Is there not a property qualification? 

Mr. TAWNEY. For the purpose of holding office, but not for 
the purpose of voting. 

Further answering the question of the gentleman, I will say 
that the registered voters of Hawaii never numbered 16,000 under 
the monarchy. The facts are that the registration of voters at the 
last election under the monarchy was, in round numbers, 11,000, 
and the actual vote cast 9,500. 

The number of those who have taken the oath of allegiance to 
the Republic, which is a prerequisite to voting, is approximately 
6,000. 

Every man who could vote under the monarchy can vote under 
the Republic upon the one condition that he renounce allegiance 
to the monarchy and swear allegiance to the Republic. 

There is no property qualification required of voters for repre- 
sentatives. The only requirement in their case is the ability to 
read and write and that their taxes shall have been paid. Voters 
for senators are required in addition thereto to own real estate 
worth $1,500 or to earn an income of .$50 a month. 

This property qualification is the same that it was under the 
monarchy, except that then the ownership of §3,000 worth of real 
estate was required: but the constitutional convention of 1894 
reduced the amount to $1,500. 

There has been no discrimination either in theory or practice 
against native Hawaiians as electors, government officers, or 
members of the legislature. Those who assert to the contrary are 
either ignorant of the facts or willful perverters of the truth. 

A majority of the voters who have qualified under the Republic 
are pure-blood native Hawaiians. 

A majority of the members of the first legislature elected under 
the Republic were pure-blood native Hawaiians, and elected a 
native speaker. This house voluntarily, at two successive ses- 
sions of the legislature, unanimously passed resolutions approv- 
ing annexation to the United States, and a new legislature just 
elected, containing slightly less than a majority of natives, has 
elected a native speaker, and, with one exception, was elected on 
a straight annexation platform. 

Three-fourths of the police force of Honolulu, including cap- 
tains and subordinate officials, are native Hawaiians; and almost 
all the police officers in the country districts are natives. 

Throughout the Government departments the majority of offices 
are held by natives, and, other things being equal, the policy of 
the Government is to give them the preference. 

In no other country and under no other Government is any 
colored race treated with the liberality and full equality accorded 
the native Hawaiians, politically and so:;ially, in the Republic of 
Hawaii. 

ANNEXATION NOT OPPOSED TO TRADITIONAL POLICY OF OUR GOVERNMENT. 

Instead of annexation being contrary to the traditional policy 
of our Government, it would be entirely in harmony with that 
policy. The policy of annexing insular territory has obtained 
since 1856. It is based upon a statute passed August 18 of that 
year. Under it Congress has not only approved of the annexation 
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of insular territory, but seventy islands and groups of islands— the 
names and dates of their annexation I can give if necessary — have 
been annexed to the United States, exclusive of the Aleutian 
Islands. Fifty-seven of 'these are in the Pacific Ocean and thirteen 
in the Caribbean Sea. 

But gentlemen may say these were annexed for the guano they 
contain. That may be and doubtless is true with respect to some 
of them; but that does not change the fact that we have made this 
insular territory a part of our domain and that to enjoy its advan- 
tages we are bound to protect it. 

If it is wise and expedient to annex insular territory to fertilize 
American soil, in the name of God, how can you consistently 
refuse to annex similar territory to protect Ahierican people? 
The protection of our int-erests in the Pacific Ocean and on the 
coast of that sea should be regarded every where of as much im- 
portance as the fertilization of our soil. [Applause.] 

Another important fact bearing on this branch of the question 
is the annexation, in 1867, of the Island of Midway, and the ap- 
propriation of $50,000 by Congress for the imj)rovement of its har- 
bor and to convert it into a naval station. This island is about 
1,100 miles west of Honolulu. It belongs to the Hawaiian group. 
After the destruction of a vessel on its reefs, the attempt to malre 
it a naval station was abandoned, but the island remains the 
property of the United States. 

Has its annexation, or the annexation of the Aleutian Islands, 
or any of the seventy islands annexed heretofore, involved us in 
international difficulties? Did their annexation or the annexation 
of Alaska conflict less with the alleged traditional policy of our 
Government than would the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands? 
The only traditional ijolicy of our Government has been to annex 
any territory deemed essential to the growth and development of 
our country and to the iDrotection of that which we possessed, 
whether contiguous or insular. 

Is the policy of the Government concerning the annexation of 
territorj^ affected by the motive which irrompted the annexation? 
No; the motive goes only to the question of expediency. It does 
not change or affect its policy. Therefore, if it has been our 
policy to annex insular territory for any purpose, the annexation 
of the Islands of Hawaii, no matter what the motive, would not 
be a violation of that policy nor would it constitute a precedent, 
for the precedent has long since been established. 

ANNEXATION TV'OULD PREVENT, NOT CAUSE, INTERNATIONAL DIFFICULTIES. 

The gentleman does not tell us how the annexation of these 
islands would involve the United States in international difficul- 
ties. His position on this branch of the q uestion is absolutely un- 
tenable. As long as Hawaii remains an independent Republic, 
without the power to permanently maintain its independence, 
with the constant strife between the aliens for political control, it 
will be an incubator of international difficulties, inviting inter .^.a- 
tional intrigue and friction, and be a constant menace to the 
peace and prosperity of the Pacific. 

Annexation would eliminate these islands from the realm of in- 
ternational politics as completely as the territory of Texas and 
California was when annexed. These islands being, then, a part 
of the United States, its authority and control would be respected 
accordingly by the inhabitants and by all the great powers of the 
world whose commercial and military interests in the Pacific 
Ocean are constantly and rapidly increasing. 
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AMERICAN INTERESTS TOO GREAT TO BE SACRIFICED BY AMERICAN 
REPRESENTATIVES. 

Mr. Chairman, when we consider the great possibilities of 
American commerce on the Pacific, when we consider that in less 
than a half century the principal outlet for our surplus agricul- 
tural and manufactured products west of the Mississippi will be 
across that mighty sea to the new oriental world, just awaken- 
ing to its commercial and other material advantages and necessi- 
ties, and if we also consider the important physical relation of 
Hawciii to this magnificent future development, it seems impossi- 
ble that a representative of the American people should favor the 
abandonment of these islands to the selfish greed of some foreign 
power by opposing their annexation, and that, too, upon ground 
purely sentimental. 

Whije their importance to our commerce, their conceded strate- 
gical advantage, and the protection their possession would afford 
our Pacific coast are each of themselves sufficient to justify annex- 
ation, yet there is still another important consideration too fre- 
quently ignored and too little appreciated. It is the trade and 
commerce between these islands and the Pacific coast States, and 
the extent to which this would be increased under the influence of 
annexation. 

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS. 

Hawaii consists of eight inhabited islands, extending from 
northwest to southeast over a distance of about 380 miles. The area 
is, approximately, 7,000 square miles, almost equal to that of Mas- 
sachusetts, or about 600 square miles greater than that of Connecti- 
cut and Rhode Island combined. The soil consists entirely of de- 
composed lava, and in productiveness equals the soil of any other 
country in the world. The chief products are sugar, coffee, rice, 
bananas, pineapples, guavas, and many other tropical fruits. 
There are on the islands 59 sugar plantations and about 250 coffee 
plantations. 

The cultivation of coffee is rapidly increasing and will soon 
rival sugar in amount and value. On the island of Hawaii alone 
there are between four and five hundred thousand acres of rich land 
peculiarly adapted to the raising of coffee, but not available for 
sugar. With these islands a part of the United States, American 
industry and enterprise would, in the near future, produce a very 
large part of the coffee we consume, and in time make us prac- 
tically independent of the world for all the staple articles of Ameri- 
can consumption. 

A TRIP FROM HILO TO KILAUEA. 

On the 16th of September last a small party, consisting of four 
members of this House, including myself, was driven from Hilo, 
on the Island of Hawaii, a distance of 31 miles, to where the 
slumbering volcano Kilauea spouts his lava fountain into the air. 
The road, built by the Government, and almost like a paved street, 
wound through a native tropical forest, whose rich foliage and in- 
exhaustible vegetation, together with the many thriving sugar 
and coffee plantations along the way, attested the fertility of the 
soil and foreshadowed the future possibilities of the islands to 
those who may desire to engage in the pursuit of agriculture. 

Fern trees, trees of a bread fruit and cocoanut, alligator pears, 
bananas, guavas, palms, and pineapples; everywhere and over 
all the thick climbing vines clung to the trunks or hung in fes- 
toons over them, making the forest dark and ai^parently impene- 
trable. Wild strawberries, gooseberries, and raspberries grow 

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there in rich profusion; fruits of all kinds, in all stages of growth, 
from early green to mellow ripeness, hung upon the vines or trees, 
for there seasons are unknown. The air never rises above 90 de- 
grees and never sinks below 53, except upon the mountains. 

These islands boast the highest mountains of any island in any 
sea. You can enjoy perpetual summer, spring, autumn, or winter, 
according to the elevation you choose. The gentlest of breezes 
blow the whole year round across this land of perennial summer. 
The conditions of happy existence on these wondrous islands sur- 
pass your power to believe as much as they surpass my power to 
describe. In this haven of rest one may with perfect sanity long 
to tarry. Here, if anywhere, we might- 
Swear an oath and keep it witli 

An equal mind, 
In the fertile lotus land to live and 

Lie reclined. 
On the hills like gods together, 
Careless of mankind. 

[Applause.] 

OPPORTUNITIFS FOR A PROFITABLE AS WELL AS HAPPY EXISTENCE. 

But, sir, the natural conditions upon these islands afford oppor- 
tunities for a profitable as well as happy existence. Their foreign 
trade exceeds in value $208 per capita for every man, woman, and 
child in the country — a record unparalleled in the history of the 
world. There are no poorhouses in Hawaii. Paupers, beggars, 
and tramps are found there only in the recollection of those who 
in some other country have seen them or have had occasion to 
deal with them; otherwise these living examples of poverty, 
wretchedness, and misfortune are unknown to the people there. 
Their cities and villages possess all modern conveniences and 
afford every comfort enjoyed by the people of any city in the 
United States. 

In 1896 the Pacific Coast States sold to the people of Hawaii 
more than $800,000 worth of food products. The total imports 
for that year exceeded $7,000,000, almost $5,500,000 coming from 
the United States. The value of their exports for the same year 
exceeded $15,000,000, leaving a net balance of trade in their favor 
of over $8,000,000. Of the countries which received exports from 
San Francisco during the year ending October 30, 1896, Hawaii 
stands second. These islands were our second best purchaser of 
wines, our third best of barley, and our sixth best of flour. To- 
day they are the largest consumer of United States products of 
any single country bordering on the Pacific. 

TRADE BETWEEN THE PACTEIC COAST AND THESE ISLANDS GREATLY 
INCREASED BY ANNEXATION. 

The harbor of Honolulu is the only harbor in the world where 
for many years the American flag has floated over more vessels 
than all other flags together. [Applause. ] The number of Ameri- 
can vessels entering American ports during the year ending June 
30, 1896, were: From the United Kingdom, 88; from Europe, Asia, 
Africa, and Australia combined, 210; from Hawaii alone, 191. 

These islands, therefore, furnish cargo for 191 American vessels, 
and all the world besides, except the American continent, furnish 
cargo for only 298. 

If, with a heterogeneous population, numbering only 109,000 
souls, with an unstable government to deter capital, and retard de- 
velopment and production, and with a restricted market in this 
country for the sale of all but three of their principal products, 

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Hawaii is the principal western consumer of onr products and 
furnishes cargo for more American vessels than all the world 
besides, except this continent, what splendid possibilities there 
are for the growth of our trade and commerce with that country 
when it has become a part of the United States, with the million 
and a half souls or more which it is capable of supporting, with an 
American tariff to restrict importations, with a free market in this 
country for the sale of all its products, with a soil and climate unex- 
celled in productiveness anywhere in the world, and with a free, 
stable government to bless the land like a benediction. [Applause, j 

THE NATURAL. MARKET OF THE FUTURE FOR OUR SURPLUS PRODUCTS. 

The commercial and industrial revolution now going on in the 
far-off Orient dates from the opening of the ports of Japan by- 
Commodore Perry in 1853 with the battle ships of the United 
States. Then the foreign commerce of this and other countries 
bordering on the Pacific and Indian oceans was of little or no 
consequence to the rest of the world. To-day it amounts to over 
$2,250,000,000 annually. Although the influence and power of the 
United States has been a potent factor in this marvelous develop- 
ment, yet our share of its benefit is infinitesimal when compared 
with that enjoyed by the people of other countries. 

Over 80 per cent of our exports go eastward across the Atlantic, 
and only about 5 per cent westward across the Pacific. More 
than one-half the world's population inhabit the countries tribu- 
tary to these two great oceans, excluding this continent. Oppor- 
tunities for the disposition of our surplus products, especially of 
the Western States, must keep pace with the increase of produc- 
tion, and it is to the western world that we must look for these 
increased opportunities to extend our trade. 

But we first owe to the present and to future generations the 
duty of securing permanently every facility for carrying these 
products across the Pacific to our natural and some day our prin- 
cipal customers. Owing to the great distance, the one thing abso- 
lutely essential in this regard is a supply and repair station and a 
harbor of refuge for our vessels somewhere in that ocean. The 
only available spot for this purpose is Hawaii. 

Their importance in this respect must be apparent to everyone 
who will stop to consider the fact that to-day all but one of the 
eight steamship lines now plying between our continent and Japan, 
China, and Australia are obliged to make use of Hawaii as a way 
station. Nowhere else on the route traversed by these vessels 
can they obtain a ton of coal, a gallon of fresh water, or a pound 
of bread. The distance from Hongkong to Panama is 9,580 miles, 
a distance equaled only by the combined width of the American 
continent, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, and Turkey, 
clear across to the boundary of Persia. The distance from Hong- 
kong to San Francisco is more than 5,800 miles, a distance which 
the width of this continent and the Atlantic Ocean combined does 
not equal. And the distance from Yokohama to San Francisco 
exceeds 4,500 miles. 

Let us suppose, sir, that the width of the Atlantic Ocean equaled 
that of the Pacific; that the distance from Liverpool to Panama 
was 9,580 miles, and from the same place to New York 5,800 
miles; that there were no islands in the Atlantic Ocean from the 
equator to Greenland or from the eastern to the western coast 
of that sea, except a group similar to those of Hawaii; that they 
were situated 2,100 miles southeast from New York, forming the 
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crossroads for American and European commerce; that there was 
no other spot on this long ocean voyage where it was possible for 
a vessel to obtain coal or other supplies; that these islands were 
under the control of an independent government too weak to 
maintain itself ; that this Government freely tendered these islands 
to the United States, with the knowledge on our part that if we 
did not accept them they w^ould fall into the hands of some for- 
eign power, how many Representatives from the Atlantic Coast 
States or from the Atlantic Seaboard cities would, under these 
circumstances, dare to vote against their annexation and thereby 
abandon them either to the selfish greed or material welfare of 
some foreign power? Not one. [Api3lanse.] 

You would all then see the advantages that would accrue to 
your coast and to the whole country from the possession of these 
islands. The commercial interests "which you represent uptonthis 
floor would insist upon your accepting them. The menace to your 
coast, if they were in the possession of some foreign power, would 
demand of you their acceptance. And jet this is exactly the sit- 
uation with respect to the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands in 
the Pacific Ocean, They bear the same relation to the present and 
future commerce of the Western States and to the protection of 
the Pacific Coast that they would bear to your commerce on the 
Atlantic in the case which I have supposed. 

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MODERN NAVY DEPENDENT UPON COAL. 

The effectiveness of the moaern navy depends as much upon 
coal as it does upon powder. Without the one the other is use- 
less, and with neither the modern battle ship is a thing of beauty 
but as harmless as a dove. No naval vessel afloat to-day, sailing 
at an av^erage speed of 15 knots an hour, has sufficient capacity to 
store coal enough to cross the Pacific or to steam from any exist- 
ing or possible naval station to our Pacific coast and return again. 
And when we consider that in the Pacific, from the equator to 
Bering Sea and from China to the American coast, there is but 
one spot where recoaling is possible, and that spot is Hawaii, 
the importance of our possessing these islands reaches a magni- 
tude that overshadows and dwarfs into insignificance every con- 
ceivable objection that can be urged against their annexation. 

Their value to the United States in this respect will far exceed 
the value of any fortifications we may erect along the Pacific coast 
for the purpose of defense, and their possession will also render 
unnecessary fortifications that otherwise must be erected at enor- 
mous expense. 

With these islands in our possession, no power having an exist- 
ing or possible naval station in the Pacific as a basis of operation 
could attempt an attack upon our western coast; to do so would 
be a practical impossibilit5^ But place them in the hands of any 
foreign power, and that power, then only four days' distant from 
that coast, becomes a most formidable menace to our commerce 
on the Pacific, and our western coast would then be the most 
vulnerable point in our nation's coat of mail. 

It may be said that in any event certain foreign powers can take 
South America or British Columbia as a basis of operations; but 
when we consider the nearness of these countries to the United 
States, and the comparative ease with which American armies 
could invade that territory, this suggestion becomes impracticable. 
Only at enormous expense, and at the risk of being anticipated, 
could any foreign power undertake it. 
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16 

HAWAII THE KEY TO THE PACIFIC. 

No wonder, then, that for more than a half century these islands 
have been regarded by statesmen and naval authorities as the key 
to the North Pacific, or tiiat our Government has persistently 
maintained its policy of noninterference. 

The audible rumblings on the other side of the Atlantic should 
warn us that the spirit of national aggrandizement, of territorial 
acquisition, and greed of commercial power is abroad in that land. 
The eyes of the world and the navies of the principal nations of 
Europe are now turned toward the far-off land of the Celestials. 
The importance of Hawaii to the great interests of European 
countries in that part of the world would promptly demand its 
annexation if we did not consider it worth having. 

To reject these islands under these circumstances, sir, would be 
a crime against the American people. Their possession by any for- 
eign power would give to that power an advantage in the Pacific 
Ocean that would inevitably retard the growth of our commerce 
on that sea and be a perpetual menace to that imperial domain 
lying in the morning shadows of the Rocky Mountains. 

The fruit of the policy inaugurated by Webster and Tyler, and 
so long maintained by all political parties, is now ripe. It is 
ready to drop from the tree planted by the hands of American 
statesmen. We must accept it or allow it to fall into the hands of 
some other power. 

Following, therefore, the teachings of that enlightened, patri- 
otic American statesmanship which, to promote the general wel- 
fare of the people and to insure the preservation of the Republic, 
has in the past acquired territory, whether contiguous or insular, 
we should ratify and confirm the far-seeing judgment and intelli- 
gent action of President McKinley, thereby throwing around 
these islands the shield of American sovereignty and planting 
upon them that starry emblem of liberty, thus v/arning the na- 
tions of the world that the islands of Hawaii, " the gems of the 
Pacific," are to be forever a buttress and never to be a menace to 
that splendid section of our country whose shores, from Bering 
Strait to the northern boundary of Mexico, are washed by the 
surf billows of the Pacific. [Loud applause.] 
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